Modern-day art is very different from the traditional art. It's minimal, more thought through and well researched and is definitely, out-of-the-box. Time and again, we make it a point of sharing such interesting and compelling modern-day art work on our blog.

Meet Andrew Myers who is hailed as one of the most patient modern-day sculptors around.

Andrew is a California-based artist who was born in Braunshweig, Germany and was raised in Ciudad Real, Spain, is known all over the world for creating incredible portraits with screws. The artist first starts the process by placing the pages of a phone-book on top of a plywood panel and draws out a face and pre-drills holes onto it and then drills in the screws to make the portrait.

Andrew is artistically influenced by European life and culture. This can also be seen in his works. Apart from making amazing screw art, he is also draws, paints and sculpts.

He does not likes calling himself a "creator" of art. He believes that God is the only one with that privilege. Rather, his role as an artist is to enter that lonely, honest, painful place most of us spend our whole lives hiding from.

Each year Andrew creates five to ten screw art portraits, each of which is an experiment in art, mathematics, and creative problem solving.

To know more about Andrew and his work read on our exclusive interview with him:

Happy reading!

1. Hi Andrew, please introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Andrew Myers and I am a full time artist from Laguna Beach, California.

2. Let's start with your life size paintings in charcoal and ink. You have made some notes in red on these paintings. What do you intend to convey through these notes?  

The message is very relatable. It is about being graded by a "teacher". In this case the teacher is grading the character traits of these people and giving a final grade.

3. How do you select the objects that you plan to convert into sculptures? Some of the sculptures seem to have an emotional connect with yourself - like the man dragging the key towards a door or the man with a glass cutout with a red heart. Is this by design?  

The subject matter for my sculptures is real life. They all are meant to elicit an emotional connection. They are about heartbreak, reaching out for your goals, moving forward, forgiveness, etc.

4. Your sculpture "The Shopper" was selected by the city of Laguna Beach City Council as a Figurative Public Sculpture. How gratifying did it feel?

Very gratifying experience to be chosen to create something for the general public.

5. From where did you get the inspiration for the screw portrait series? 

The inspiration came about 6 years ago. I am always looking to be unique and creative in everything I do. I was working on sculptures in bau relief and started thinking about other materials I could use to show dimension. I realized that using screws which would allow me to sculpt in the same method and then I decided to paint them to reveal the image.


The screw pieces are really unique because they begin as a drawing first. Next, I sculpt using the screws and finally they become a painting when I apply paint to each screw using a small brush.

7. I presume you cannot get to the depth of each screw, right the first time itself. How do you manage to handle the errors, as correcting the depth of one screw will change the relative depth of that screw to the ones next to it? How do you manage to handle such errors?  

After all these years, I manage to not make too many errors. If something does not feel right, I am able to spot it immediately and fix it.



The screw portraits can take anywhere from 2-6 months to create and can contain 3,000-10,000 screws. Each one is different and these are all people in my life (family and friends).



The first thing they notice is the portrait itself or the subject matter and as they come closer, they realize that it is 3 dimensional and made from some object. Upon closer inspection, they are surprised to learn that common screws is what they are made from. People are truly amazed and surprised to learn that something soft has been created from such a harsh material.

10. When you are not working on your artwork how do you like to chill out? What do you find most relaxing?

Spending time with my son brings me the most satisfaction and joy. I am best able to chill out going camping and getting out in nature.

11. What other artists do you look up to? What are your future plans as an artist?

I don't really have too many artists that I look up to. I try to be my own artist. Future plans are to keep pushing myself and my art to places I have only imagined. I want to grow as an artist.

12. What advice would you like to pass on to the younger generation of budding and aspiring artists?

Find inspiration in things around you and love what you do.

Thanks Andrew for taking out the time and doing this interview with us. We'd like to wish you the very best for the future.

Stay tuned with E-junkie for more inspirational artistic stories.